The University of Central Lancashire has created an MA program designed to teach students self-publishing; the Seattle Times investigates Amazon’s long-term strategy; Roxana Robinson shares her thoughts on the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman; and other news.

J. K. Rowling has filed a libel lawsuit against the Daily Mail; Amazon announced its net sales increased 22 percent in 2013; classicist Dirk Obbink discovered two unknown poems by Sappho; and other news.

In response to anti-gay legislation in Nigeria, celebrated Kenyan memoirist Binyavanga Wainaina announced he is gay; Amazon will offer retail stores a Kindle-based checkout system; Amanda Bullock lists twenty-nine books every person should read before marrying; and other news.

The Poetry Off the Shelf podcast includes a discussion of Apple’s new iPad commercial, which features the poetry of Walt Whitman; Seattle’s city council voted yesterday in support of an UNESCO City of Literature; Peter Schjeldahl talks about the enigmatic William S. Burroughs; and other news.

Sofia Coppola will adapt Alysia Abbott’s Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father for the big screen; the Christian Science Monitor reports that independent bookstores are on the rise; Vulture offers a buyers' guide to January book releases; and other news.